This photo journal features our short ferry crossing from Messina Sicily to Reggio di Calabria on the mainland, before we continued to our next stop in Sorrento. So this journal also has photos of our hotel & area in Sorrento, & the rest will be featured in part 2. I'll tell you more about Sorrento in part 2.

MESSINA: which takes up the NE corner of the 3-cornered island of Sicily, is the 3rd largest city on the island, & the capital of the province by the same name. Its population is about 250k in the city prop, & about 500k in the metropolitan area.

History: Messina was founded by the Greeks in 756 BCE, then later ruled by the other Sicily invaders including the Arabs. In fact, Messina was the last city to submit to the Arab yoke. Messina’s golden era was during the Aragon Dynasty, when Messina was made the capital of the kingdom of Sicily & its value & potential recognized as a port. (Messina was the most important port of departure for European knights on their way to the Crusades throughout the Middle Ages.)

Messina has often been associated with its disasters. For example, the bubonic plague was brought to Europe on a ship that arrived in Messina. Several earthquakes have destroyed parts of the city over the centuries, the most destructive was in 1908 when the quake & associated tsunami killed about 60,000 people & destroyed most of the ancient architecture. The massive Allied bombardment of the city in 1943, which caused thousands of deaths, earned Messina the nickname "The City of Ghosts" because many residents sought safety in the outlying towns. Therefore, because of the earthquakes & WWII bombing, the city is almost completely modern. Since they learned their lessons from past, modern Messina is constructed with safety in mind - the streets are wide & buildings relatively low.

Sightseeing: The most famous sight is the reconstructed 12th century Norman cathedral (we drove by it). Because the original building was almost entirely destroyed by earthquakes, most of the present cathedral is actually a reconstruction. Another church that is historically important but often ignored. is the Church of Santa Maria Alemanna (Saint Mary of the Germans) which dates back to the late 1100s. It is located a few blocks from the train station in a part of the city that visitors hardly ever see. It is one of the very few truly Gothic churches still standing in Sicily. Because of its unappealing location & deteriorating condition, it is virtually ignored by travel guides & tourists. However, a brief visit to the Church of Santa Maria would give your visit to Messina a taste of what the city was like when its ancient stone streets echoed with the footsteps of “presumptuous kings and overzealous knights”.

There are several other popular tourist attractions that we missed but may want to consider. They include several fountains, a palazzo, a lighthouse, botanical garden, regional museum, & the two pylons for an overhead power line across the Strait of Messina which were built in 1957. At the time they were built, the two pylons were the highest in the world. The power line has since been replaced by an underwater cable, but the pylons still remain as a protected historical monument, & accessible to tourists since 2006.

Did you know: that in June 1955, Messina was the location of the Messina Conference of western European foreign ministers which led to the creation of the EEC (European Economic Community)? And, did you know that Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing (1598) & Antony and Cleopatra (1607) were set in Messina?

More info & photos here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messina